By the Numbers: Getting More From Your Diamonds

Published

10 years ago

October 16, 2014

David Brown

David Brown sales data diamond ring sales results

While overall sales continued to climb in August, rising 13 percent to $105,769 from $93,458 in the same month last year, a dip in average sale (from $292 to $271) and a decline in margin squeezed profitability at the typical U.S. jeweler. The data suggest jewelers are working harder than they need to be and underscore the need for store owners to get more out of their diamond departments. To be sure, diamond sales continue to do well; on a 12-month rolling basis they were up from an average of 300 units at the start of 2013 to almost 370 in August 2014. But there is still room for improvement. Here are three ways to get more out of your diamond sales:

Shop the competition. What are they doing right? What can you do better? It surprises me how few jewelers do this.

Revisit your inventory. Are you fully committed to your diamonds? Do you review product regularly? Do you look to re-price items that are slow moving, or that are selling fast? Do you move your displays regularly? Does the product look tired?

Check your staff. When was the last time you had your team mystery-shopped? Do they know how to effectively close a diamond sale? Do you show specific diamond jewelry at meetings and offers tips on how to sell it? Pull out these old pieces, incentivize them and get them moving again.

David Brown monthly store sales graphic

Data gathered from the POS systems of more than 250 stores by the Edge Retail Academy (edgeretailacademy.com).

This article originally appeared in the November 2014 edition of INSTORE.

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”